Fringe: Party must reconnect with voters, say ministers

Speaking at a fringe meeting organised by The Independent, Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Education, and David Miliband, the Cabinet minister responsible for the Government's attempts to increase "respect" in society, said the party had to do more to connect with disillusioned voters.

They reflected concern that the party must rejuvenate itself to ensure it does not lose power.

Ms Kelly said the party "must ask ourselves honestly where we need to sharpen our narrative".

She cautioned that the party had to improve the social mobility of ordinary people. She said: "We should be concerned when we read of how, on some measures, it appears that social mobility in the UK may have fallen through some of the post-war decades.

"Indeed, I think this can resonate with the public. People do want next year to be better than this. They do have aspirations for their children. This is the stuff of real everyday lives."

She said: "Social mobility matters to progressives because it underpins everything we believe in. The ability for every child to aspire and achieve, irrespective of who their family is, must be at the heart of our vision of the good society."

Mr Miliband said: "Understanding the needs of people is the first step towards victory. People need to see we have the right vision, values and policies. But the bottom line is that to stay in power we have to release power. We know that the new enemy is a sense of powerlessness."

He set out a four-point plan for securing a record fourth consecutive Labour election victory. Party chiefs had to listen more closely to the messages on the doorsteps, to convey more clearly Labour's principles, highlight the success of its policies and the strength of the economy and spell out the fundamental differences with opposition parties.

Earlier Ed Balls, the MP for Normanton and former chief economic advisor to the Chancellor, warned that Labour "will be damaged if he hangs on to power too long and fails to hand over smoothly to Gordon Brown".

"When we talk about Tony Blair's standing and how he will be judged, the nature of that transition will, in an important respect, contribute to the way his legacy is seen," he said at a fringe meeting. "It's not just about the next generation of leaders but also Tony Blair himself the way the transition occurs."

Mr Balls was the Chancellor's closest adviser before he became an MP and his comments will be interpreted as a warning to Mr Blair not to alienate grass roots supporters with reforms unacceptable to the Chancellor.

"We need to make sure that, consistent with Labour values, we build a consensus in our party about the right way forward," he said.

He said the public had grown frustrated with the government.

"We have got to put the economy first and hold the centre ground but at the same time we have got to understand the public frustration at the Labour government's ability to deliver so far," he said. "Our biggest challenge in the general election was that we didn't do a brilliant job of persuading Labour voters to come out and vote Labour."

Mr Balls warned Labour not to become embroiled in internecine warfare like that which divided the Tory party when Lady Thatcher stepped down. He said that history had shown that renewal for a party in power had always proved difficult.

"We need to make sure there should be an honest, unified and forward-looking debate about policies for the next parliament which don't make the same mistakes we have seen in the past."